Official Review: Petty Offenses and Crimes of the Heart

[MeganebuKris22]

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Petty Offenses and Crimes of the Heart" by Mitchell Waldman.]

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Petty Offenses and Crimes of the Heart by Mitchell Waldman is a truly beautiful collection of stories about ordinary people living ordinary lives until various circumstances come along and change everything. Sometimes they’re changed for the better and sometimes they’re changed for the worse, but either way these stories will leave the reader gasping.

In summary, these stories are about ordinary people whose lives are forever changed through betrayals, accidents, misfortunes, danger, and emotional traumas, where they are forced to face the repercussions of the choices head on. I believe the author, Mitchell Waldman, summarizes the morale of these stories best: “In crime, love, marriage, or friendship, it’s the little things that matter most.”

This author is definitely not a newbie when it comes to writing and you can see his level of experience in the way that he writes. By reading his background information I was very pleased to find out that two of the stories in this collection, “The Duke of Broad Street” and “Glass Slippers,” have been nominated for awards, with the last actually winning the 13th Story First Place Award. Having read both of these astonishing stories involved in this collection it is easy to see why they were nominated.

I personally absolutely loved reading this book. The stories were all very original and unique and they all stuck with me in way or another, truly leaving me breathless. From a Jewish man feuding with his German neighbor with a Nazi background, to a mother grieving for her lost son, these stories flow beautifully together and they all have a valuable life lesson to be learned. Some of these stories are more on the disturbing and macabre side, such as “Catching up with Cartucci” and “Missing Pieces,” and they will definitely leave you in shock and wondering, is anywhere safe? However, then the author transitions from dark stories like these into light and slightly comical stories such as the award winning “Glass Slippers,” that will leave you with a sense of fascination and wonder.

Overall, I was left with the important life lesson that no matter how small or insignificant our choices may seem, sometimes they can affect our lives and/or the lives of those around us in a HUGE way. These stories were so raw and real about human emotion and thought that I was left feeling the effect of our one common human flaw, free will. Truly an amazing book by an amazing author with an amazing cast of characters. This reviewer is very happy with the choice that I made by picking this wonderful book to read, review, and enjoy thoroughly.

Thus, I am obviously giving this book 4 out of 4 stars! This is honestly one of the best books that I’ve read so far this year! This book is perfect balance of a fantastic writing style, character development, and human emotion. I highly recommend this book to all short story lovers or anyone who wants to read a book and truly feel satisfied with what you’ve just read. This book will not disappoint!

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[mitchwaldman]

Thanks so much for this review. I'm speechless and glad you liked the book!

-- 06 May 2014, 10:59 --

Thanks so much for this review. I'm glad you liked the book!

[sahmoun2778]

You've definitely piqued my interest with this review.